Harry Before Hogwarts -- Chapter 2
by Araw
Summary: Harry's life is dismal and boring, seeing as nobody will talk to him. His cousin Dudley pummels anyone who dares to do as much as look at him. However, it doesn't have to be this way, as this story proves


Harry Before Hogwarts - Chapter 1

By Araw

A Harry Potter Fanfic

Ellen decided about five seconds into their conversation: Harry was the weirdest kid she had ever met. For one, he asked her what her favorite color was twice in a minute. Twice! As if he could forget in a minute. _Maybe he has ADHD,_ Ellen thought. _Or something…_. 'Or something' ended up being more accurate. Harry had no people skills whatsoever, as a result of Dudley and his goons harassing everyone who came near him. After the favorite color incident, Harry kept asking her about her 'favorites'. Sport, animal, texture, season, you name it. It was quite annoying.

Guess what? I _talked to her_! Like normal people talk to other normal people! Like I talk to

people all the time! It was so so so amazing! But when we weren't talking, she was all like, cool, and silent. I was fidgety, though. I barely ever talk to people, and when I do, I'm usually trying to get away from them. The big balloon of silence stretched between us, uncomfortably filling up the space between us. Occasionally, I would puncture it, y'know, with normal people talk, but mostly, it was there.

As soon as the unlikely pair made it to school, Ellen presumably detached herself from Harry and sprinted off to join her friends. Harry immediately looked as he always did; friendless, skinny, lonely. Dudley waddled over to Harry and asked him why he had been walking with Ellen. Harry shrugged in response. School had started. Everything was back to normal.

Once Dudley and I got to French, everything was as it should have been. Nobody talked to me, per the usual, heck, nobody even _looked_ at me. Everyone avoided Dudley like the Plague, and since Dudley was permanently by my side, they avoided me, too. Well, actually, today, things didn't go as usual.

Harry didn't know it, but Ellen was privately throwing him a pity party from where she sat, in the first row. Ellen could tell that he was miserable, perhaps even more than usual, so she decided to talk to him. But, no, she couldn't just go up and talk to him, like he was a normal person. No, she had to layer on the charm first.

Ellen came sashaying over to our table, hips thrown out, and looking like she could swoon at any moment. Once I recovered from the shock, I had to stifle my laughter. Ellen was trying to win Dudley over by imitating Mina Edwards, the most popular girl at school. Well, it worked. Dudley and his gang of friends were staring at her, practically _drooling_, when she laid down the kicker:

"Can I talk to Harry, please, for a moment?" The classroom went silent. Totally and completely silent. Dudley grunted in agreement, then proceeded to follow the unlikely pair to the other side of the classroom. "Oh, I'm _sorry_," Ellen's sarcasm was pushing it, but she flipped her hair and started looking at her nails to make up for it. "Was I not clear enough? I _meant_ to ask, could I please talk to Harry _alone_. By my seat. Without you."

I sighed. If only Ellen hadn't included the last "Without you" in there. It would have been fine. But she had. So Dudley appropriately reacted. His face got _so red_. Like a maraschino cherry. Then he started yelling at Ellen, calling her words I _dare not_ repeat. It was horrible. I slinked back to my seat, Dudley behind me, still yelling.

Dudley called Ellen some horrible things, but she didn't really care. She'd been called worse. Far worse. For one, he only called her things regarding the fact that she was female and not the fact that she was African-British. I mean, seriously, today was a really good day for Dudley. He only insulted her on one front for dissing him in front of the French class. Usually, he would beat someone up if they were as much as looking at Harry. Ellen decided that overall, today had been a good day.

I couldn't believe it, Ellen walked back to her seat as though nothing had happened! She even flipped her hair! I wish I have her confidence. It would make life so much easier. Ugh. I couldn't believe Dudley today. Okay, yes, Ellen toed the line a bit, but Dudley didn't need to react the way he did. Dudley is so annoying sometimes.

Ellen had no idea what Harry was thinking, but all she could think was _"Dudley can be so annoying sometimes."_. Ellen decided that she would talk to Harry, and soon.


End file.
